Condensed milk is usually only available sweetened. This is not the product that you want. It is made by cooking sweetened milk down to a thick liquid and as such usually has a cooked dairy taste as well as an overwhelming sweetness. For this recipe, stick with cream.

I was curious to try this recipe, as it was very similar to my recipe (which originated as the recipe on the back of Libby's canned pumpkin goo) but had a much different preparation.

So I just had a very tasty bakeoff, making one of my pies and one of these pies with my spice loadout.

I mayyy have overcooked this recipe's pie by a few minutes (yay for old ovens i'm not used to yet) but it was not ruined.

I was hardput to put my finger on exactly what the differences in taste and texture were, they were pretty close. So I will most likely stick to my version, as canned pumpkin isn't fibrous enough to warrant a full blender treatment, and the pre-cooking didn't seem to do much but add to the complexity. I'll have to experiment more with the whole milk/cream vs condensed milk thing a bit more, though.

Dark brown sugar goooooood. All the other recipes I've stumbled across call for plain white sugar, which makes such an inferior pie! Thumbs up on the dark brown sugar

I love to make pumkin pies but I really never knew when to take them out of the oven. I realize now that I wait too long because I thought the jigglly stage was a sign it was not done. I have never warmed the ingredients on the stove, either. I can't wait to try that. Thanks for all the work you do to keep this site going. The recipe format is the best I have seen.

I have made many pumpkin pies over my many years and always use evaporated milk (1 can). I do not pre-bake the crust (made from scratch) and it is crispy. The pie is baked for 15 minutes at 425 deg., then reduced to 350 deg. for about 40 minutes. To test for doneness, insert a knife into the center and if it comes out clean, it is done.

I've made pumpkin pie with 2% milk and that worked too. When I made it with 1.5 cups of cream it was a bit too rich for my taste. So I tried a 12 oz can of evaporated milk and I liked that. I've also tried 1.5 cups of half-and-half and that worked too. This "experiment" has made it easy on me because I always have at least one of the above liquids on hand.

Btw, I like your site and the diagram you use for your recipes. Keep up the good work.

I've made three pumpkin pies this year, and developed a couple techniques.

1) Pie pumpkins ARE available in our area (SW ontario), so I used these with all three pies. I peeled & seeded the pumpkin, chopped into chunks, then steamed the pieces. I assembled the pie in a food processor. I like using the fresh pumpkin as it has a hetrogenous consistancy.

2) I didn't use any dairy - my 1 year old boy can't have any milk protein - so I made them with soy milk. Tasted pretty good.

I see that the canned pumpkin comes in a 15 oz size so that is 1 3/4 cup not the stated 2 cups. Do you call for 2 cups or 1 can of pumpkin.

Good catch! I posted this article over a year ago and didn't realize my error until you pointed it out. In the United States, canned pumpkin is usually sold in cans of 15 ounces (weight) or 29 ounces (weight). As pointed out earlier a 15 ounce can is about 1.75 cups instead of 2 cups.

I have glazed the bottom of the pie crust with a beaten egg and precooked mine, 10 minutes. I followed the required cooking time, adding the "crust cover"(foil strip around edge of crust). It creates a flakey crust with perfectly cooked edges. I works great, everytime.
I "stumbled" on this site, and have found it greatly informative. You're the best! Thanks!
Linda

1- No matter what kind of pie you are making, always brush the bottom crust with melted butter. 2 T should do it. You never need to pre-bake if you follow this step. For better flavor, use unsalted butter.

2-Before placing pie in the oven, cover the crimped crust with a strip of aluminum foil. For a 9" diameter pie and 12" wide foil, you will need 3 strips, each about 2" wide. Remove the foil for the last 20-25 minutes of baking time to let the crust brown, not burn.

3-Evaporated milk, not condensed, works just as well as heavy cream. 1/2 cup, evaporated milk has 8 g of fat but heavy cream has 44 g. (whole milk has 4 g).

I followed this recipe to a T
In England where I come from there isn't a tradition for pumpkin pie.
Where I am currently working in Russia, people give away the most incredible orange pumkins, as no one really wants to use them.

when i followed the recipe the only thing i decided to change was the crust. i used a typical short pastry 500g flour to 225 butter and a dash of egg yolk and cold water.

I prebaked te crust to a nice golden brown and then added the filling.
Baked for 30 mins as sugessted.
PERFECT.
My only problem with the first test was not baking the pie crust enough. it came out a little soggy and the only way round that is to bake it to a nice crisp texture.
Thanks once again for a great recipe and a great technique.

I can't top thirty-five, but I've made about 5-6 of these pies. Best recipe ever! My only change was to increase the cooking time a bit, since the first one came out a little oozy in the middle. I think it's ended up being about 10 minutes extra.